Packing rotating shafts.



No. 790,744. PATENTED MAY 23, 190.5. 0. A. PARSONS. PACKING ROTATINGSHAPTS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

AI V PATEN'TED MAY1'23, 1905. G. A. PARSONS.. I "PACKING ROTATINGSHAFTS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT 19, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES Patented May 23, 1905.

PATENT OEEicE.

PACKING ROTATING SHA'FTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 790,744., dated May 23,1905.

Application filed $eptember 19, 1904. Serial No. 225,140.

To all whom 211 may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES ALGERNON PARsoNs, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain and Ireland, residing at Heaton Works,Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in the county of Northumberland, England, haveinvented new and useful Improvements Relating to the Packing of RotatingShafts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the packing of rotating shafts.

In the packing of rotating shafts by glands of the lantern type it hasbeen usual to form them with one lantern-space connected to a source ofthe Working fluid or other source of fluid at a suitable pressure and soregulated by valves, ejectors, or other means as to maintain the desiredfluid-pressure in the lanternspace and prevent external leakage of theworking fluid or the ingress of air through the gland. I have found thatwith high-speed shafts when the glands are packed with Ramsbottom ringsor other contact or rubbing pack-. ing, which is pressed into closecontact by the fluid-pressure upon the gland, the packing is liable toundue wear when the fluidpressures are high, and, further, where thepacking devices are of the ring-and-groove type, such as is used in myturbine dummy pistons, where heavy pressures have to be dealt with, thepackings have to be made to allow of considerable leakage or they have atendency to cut or become rapidly destroyed; and the objects of thepresent invention are to prevent undue wear and to reduce the loss ofworking fluid through the packings.

My invention consists in providing two or more lantern-spaces in thegland or dummy packings, each section being supplied with fluid, so asto provide a nearly constant gradation of pressure through the packing.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional planthrough a Parsons turbine, showing the application of the presentinvention to the packing-gland in the turbine-shaft. Fig. 2 is a similarview of a modified form of the invention. Figs. 3

and 4 are diagrammatic illustrations of the pipe connections between thelantern and steam spaces.

In carrying my invention into effect according to the form illustratedin Fig. 1 and as adapted for use in a gland for resisting pressure fluidI provide a number of Ramsbottom rings 0? on the rotating shaft f, whichact as running-packing. Where high pressures are used, some of theserings may be replaced by my ringandgroove type packing. At intervalsalong this gland there are formed lantern-spaces a, b, and c, which areconnected by pipes g, it, and (see Fig. 3) to suitable steamspaces or inthe case of turbines to different parts in the expansion of the steam.The space a nearest to the interior of the turbinemay be connected to ahigher pressure-point than is the space 6, and the space 0 is suppliedwith steam from a suitable source or exhausts to the condenser or to asuitable ejector, so as to always maintain atmospheric pressure in thespace 0. A convenient arrangement of piping is shown diagrammatically inFig. 3, where the space a is connected by a pipe 9 to a point g nearerthe inlet end of the turbine than the point it, to which the pipe itleads the steam from the space 7). A pipe is connected to a point 91,where the steam is at atmospheric pressure. It will be seen that thesteam leaking through from one lantern-space to the other is in this waypartially returned to the engine, and the space 0 being at atmosphericpressure there is no tendency for the steam to pass from that space tothe atmosphere or for air to leak in from the atmosphere. Anotherconvenient method of connecting the lanternspaces to the steam-spaces isillustrated diagrammatically at the right-hand side of Fig. 4. Thismethod consists in connecting the space a by a pipe g to a suitablepoint 9' in the expansion of the engine, the space Z) by the pipe [1. tothe condenser, as shown by the arrow, and introducing steam to thelanternspace by means of the pipe connection 2', thus causing the flowof steam through the packing-rings to be in opposite directions-that is,from a to b and from 0 to 7). When steam is supplied to thelantern-spaces, I prefer to insert a perforated ring a, so as to procurean even pressure all round the rings located nearest to thelantern-spaces, as when this or other means is not provided thesteam-pressure is greatest on the part of the ring local to thesteam-pipe. Instead of inserting a perforated ring, however, I may makethe lantern-spaces of sufficient capacity to effect the desired result.

It will be seen that by my invention there is a slow and even pressuregradient between each lantern-space and the next, and the increase involume due to the decrease of pressure in the steam is compensated bythe exhaust-pipes in connection with the lanternspaces. The result ofthis is to obtain a saving in the amount of steam leaking through therings and also to prevent uneven pressure and consequent wear.

In Fig. 2 can be seen a modification of my' invention in the form whichI prefer to use for vacuum stufling-boxes and in which only twolantern-spaces a and b are employed. In this case both spaces may beconnected to a suitable steam source when used for a vacuum-gland. WVhenused in turbines, the steamsupply to the spaces a and b may be drawnfrom the turbine at a point where it has done most of its work.diagrammatically at the left-hand side of Fig. 4, where the pipes it?connect the spaces a and b, respectively, tothe point 9 in theexpansion.

Fig. 4: illustrates a convenient arrangement of piping for thelow-pressure turbine. The steam travels through the turbine from left toright.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A ring packing-gland having a plurality This case is illustrated oflantern-spaces in the length of the gland,

said spaces being connected to suitable steamsubstantially as described.

3. A ring packing-gland for the rotating shafts of turbines, comprisinga number of rings on the shaft and a plurality of lanternspacescommunicating with non-continuous 'parts in the ring packing one of saidlanternspaces being supplied with steam while the others are exhaustedto suitable points in the expansions of the engine, substantially asdescribed.

Witnesses:

HENRY GRAHAM DAKYNS,J1., FREDERICK GORDON HAY BEDFORD.

